M'SIA URGED TO RATIFY ILO CONVENTION 87

SUBANG JAYA, May 7 (Bernama) -- The government should prove its sincerity in
being labour-friendly by ratifying the International Labour Organisation's
(ILO) Convention 87, which gives workers the right to form unions, MTUC
secretary-general G. Rajasegaran said Thursday.

He said the convention adopted by the ILO 60 years ago was crucial to
protect the legitimate interests of workers, both local and foreign.

Speaking to reporters at the ILO/MTUC conference on the convention here, he
said that since other Asean countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar and
Cambodia had ratified the convention, Malaysia should also follow suit in the
spirit of Asean solidarity.

He said that since the government had ratified Convention 98, which gives
the unions the right to negotiate collective agreements with their employers, he
saw no reason why it should not ratify Convention 87.

It was pointlesss having the right to negotiate collective agreements
when the right of forming unions was denied, he said.

"If we can't form unions, how are we to negotiate for a collective
agreement," he added.

Fifty-one delegates from 31 countries in the Asia Pacific region are
attending the three-day conference which began Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the ILO Workers Bureau Director, Dan Cunniah, said the
organisation was willing to assist Malaysia in overcoming any difficulties in
ratifying the convention.

He said the ILO was very accommodating in allowing countries to adopt the
ratified conventions to complement and supplement their own local laws.

-- BERNAMA